Gurjeet (Sonica) Dhillon is a senior researcher at the American Institutes for Research. Dhillon is dedicated to furthering local and state efforts to mitigate student dropout through effective use of early warning system (EWS) data. She has led the development of an intensive EWS implementation professional development series. This blended ...
Nicholas Sorensen is a principal researcher at AIR. His research is primarily focused on dropout prevention and helping struggling students succeed across the transition to high school. His work emphasizes the role of social psychological interventions, strategies to support success in algebra and mathematics, and use of early warning systems ...
Eric S. Waters is a web development specialist at AIR. Waters has more than 16 years of experience as a database developer, with a particular focus on data tools and web applications serving internal and external education clients. In his present position, Waters creates and maintains both Drupal and FileMaker ...
Victoria (Tori) Cirks is a managing director at AIR. Cirks has more than fifteen years of experience managing research and technical assistance projects and teams and providing technical assistance at the state, district, and school level to improve student outcomes with a specific focus on continuous improvement college and career ...
Sarah Tisch is a senior social scientist. Dr. Tisch was formerly the project director for the Famine Early Warning System (FEWS NET) Data and Learning Hub activity which manages, shares, and facilitates use of data, information, and knowledge to help achieve the FEWS NET goal of sustainably preventing food insecurity ...
Jessica Heppen, a nationally recognized expert in education research, policy, and practice, is the president & CEO of AIR. Dr. Heppen been with AIR for 20 years and, in that time, has held several key roles during her tenure.
Lakecia Whimper is Illinois CSI's senior performance management officer and a member of the center’s senior leadership team. In her role as the senior performance management officer she is charged with providing strategic leadership by leading the design and implementation of the performance management system for Illinois CSI. The performance management ...
Montrischa Williams is a senior researcher with more than 10 years’ experience in educational research and technical assistance. Dr. Williams specializes in equity in higher education, STEM persistence, as well as the postsecondary pathways and transitions from high school to college of underserved students. Her methodological work is qualitative driven, ...
Robert Nathenson is a senior researcher at AIR. He has over 10 years of experience in the execution of rigorous econometric and behavioral science techniques to applied policy questions in the postsecondary education, pre-k-12 education, and health fields. Dr. Nathenson regularly conducts research using both experimental and quasi-experimental designs. His ...
Beth Howard-Brown is a principal technical assistance consultant at AIR. She is currently supporting the early warning and intervention and monitoring system project and the AIR social and emotional learning solutions group. Dr. Howard-Brown has over 25 years of experience leading and managing local, state and federal initiatives. She served ...